"David Eddings. Castle of wizardry enchanters' end game (The Belgariad, Part two)" - читать интересную книгу автора

- and a cup of strong ale."
"But you won't get meat and ale, father. You'll get what I decide to
give you-and right now it's broth and milk."
"Milk?"
"Would you prefer gruel?"
The old man glared indignantly at her, and Garion quietly left the room.
After that, Belgarath's recovery was steady. A few days later he was
out of bed, though Polgara raised some apparently strenuous objections.
Garion knew them both well enough to see directly to the core of his
Aunt's behavior. Prolonged bed rest had never been her favorite form of
therapy. She had always wanted her patients ambulatory as soon as
possible. By seeming to want to coddle her irascible father, she had quite
literally forced him out of bed. Even beyond that, the precisely
calibrated restrictions she imposed on his movements were deliberately
designed to anger him, to goad his mind to activity - never anything more
than he could handle at any given time, but always just enough to force
his mental recovery to keep pace with his physical recuperation.
Her careful manipulation of the old man's convalescence stepped beyond
the mere practice of medicine into the realm of art.

When Belgarath first appeared in King Cho-Hag's hall, he looked
shockingly weak. He seemed actually to totter as he leaned heavily on Aunt
Pol's arm, but a bit later when the conversation began to interest him,
there were hints that this apparent fragility was not wholly genuine. The
old man was not above a bit of self dramatization once in a while, and he
soon demonstrated that no matter how skillfully Aunt Pol played, he could
play too. It was marvellous to watch the two of them subtly maneuvering
around each other in their elaborate little game.
The final question, however, still remained unanswered. Belgarath's
physical and mental recovery now seemed certain, but his ability to bring
his will to bear had not yet been tested. That test, Garion knew, would
have to wait.
Quite early one morning, perhaps a week after they had arrived at the
Stronghold, Adara tapped on the door of Garion's room; even as he came
awake, he knew it was she. "Yes?" he said through the door, quickly
pulling on his shirt and hose.
"Would you like to ride today, Garion?" she asked. "The sun's out, and
it's a little warmer."
"Of course," he agreed immediately, sitting to pull on the Algar boots
Hettar had given him. "Let me get dressed. I'll just be a minute."
"There's no great hurry," she told him. "I'll have a horse saddled for
you and get some food from the kitchen.
You should probably tell Lady Polgara where you're going, though. I'll
meet you in the west stables."
"I won't be long," he promised.

Aunt Pol was seated in the great hall with Belgarath and King ChoHag,
while Queen Silar sat nearby, her fingers flickering through warp and woof
on a large loom upon which she was weaving. The click of her shuttle was a
peculiarly drowsy sort of sound.